It was a bit chilly for the family portrait session at Marcella Vivrette Park, but these sweet kids were troopers. This was my first time at Marcella Vivrette and I will definitely be back! It was such a pretty spot.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
“And one day she discovered that she was fierce, and strong, and full of fire, and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.”
Mark Anthony
Family Portrait Session at Winstead Park – capturing the love & joy of Emerson in photos.
I first met this beautiful family two years ago for an extended family portrait session. I was really excited to return and see them again. A lot of people on Instagram have been asking me about this beautiful portrait location. It’s actually the client’s private retreat, and it was a joy to shoot there. So much beauty and lots of love.
And aren’t the clothing choices just fantastic? I love the colors and the textures.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
I just love photographing old friends, and Shelly is one of my oldest. She and I met in college (just a few years ago), and I also had the amazing privilege of photographing Samuel’s birth. It was great to see them at Country Cove Farms for this family session.
I would love to find a place a bit closer for next year that has rows of Christmas trees like this if anyone knows of a place.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
I love this session at Country Cove Christmas Tree Farms in Murfreesboro. The colors Rachel chose are just gorgeous, the light was lovely and Olivia is just the sweetest, most adorable two-year-old. Everyone knows two-year-olds are my favorite age to photograph, and this portrait session was definitely no exception. I mean just look at those eyes. Isn’t she the cutest?
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
I was very excited to find a new portrait session location. I’ve been hiking a lot recently and using the app AllTrails to find spots to go. Somehow I had never heard of Yanahli Park in Columbia, even though it’s only about 20 minutes away from my house. My husband and I checked it out for a hike and I thought it would be perfect for portrait sessions.
Nicole is one of my long-time favorite clients and always up for trying something new, so they were a great first family to photograph at the park. The spot worked great. The only problem is that there were SO MANY MOSQUITOS. I can’t even explain how bad it was. The kids were champs in dealing with it though, so we made it through and they look beautiful.
I always love the clothes choices that Nicole makes and this time was no different. Those colors are absolutely gorgeous!
You guys please let me know if there are other fun spots I’m missing out on!
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
Family Portrait sessions like this one at Montgomery Bell State Park are my happy place. I love it when the babies are old enough to walk and talk and giggle and explore their surroundings. But also they are young enough to be their true authentic selves without worrying about what the look like in photos. This is why toddlers and preschoolers will always be my favorite age to photograph. (Though it’s also still fun to photograph Seniors, who allow for a different kind of creativity since they will do exactly what I tell them to do.)
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
This outdoor newborn/family session was a lesson in being flexible. These are wonderful repeat family portrait clients of mine. I was looking forward to meeting the newest addition to the family, a baby sister who is one month old. Mom wanted more of an outdoor family session than a traditional at-home newborn. Her original request was to have the photos taken at the Park at Harlinsdale Farms. We had not done a session for them there yet and she liked the location.
That sounded like a great idea until I realized that the session was scheduled for the same day as the Pilgrimage Festival. So I gave them the option of moving the session to another day, or keeping the date and moving to another location far far away from Harlinsdale and the crowds.
It turns out, a weekday morning session worked just great for the new family of four. Little ones are often happier in the morning and it worked for their schedules, so we changed the date.
But then Thursday morning I showed up at Harlinsdale about an hour early (because that’s me…your Enneagram 1 photographer). They were already setting up for Pilgrimage. Oops! I guess it should have occurred to me that they would need several days to set up for such a large festival. They wouldn’t let me in, and even if they had, there were giant white tents everywhere.
This is where my being obsessively early coming in handy. I was able to call the clients before they had left home, and we adapted. I gave a few options and they chose Winstead Hill Park. That worked out nicely because Winstead has plenty of shade, which is needed for a mid-morning photo session, and was somewhere they hadn’t done pictures before.
Isn’t that sweet baby girl just perfection? Big brother had a great time exploring a new park.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
OK I know I’ve chosen too many preview pictures for this fun teen photo session in Downtown Columbia. Narrowing down my selection is never something I excel at and it’s even worse when it’s for the child of one of my best friends who I’ve known for most of their life.
I’ve found that parents typically have a big gap in photos of their kids when it comes to the teen years. We take lots of photos of our little ones, but it gets so much harder as they age. For one thing, teens can be very reluctant to let their parents take everyday pictures of them. But here is a secret: getting dressed up and having a professional photographer take photos of you and your friends is much more enticing than letting mom and dad do it.
(Full disclosure: My own teens usually do NOT want me to take their photos, but I’ve never had any trouble with other people’s teens. Go figure.)
I am so pleased with how these turned out. Michelle suggested the session as a way to celebrate Sam’s 15th birthday. Sam was given the freedom to decide what to wear and what friends to include in the session. I love photographing friendships at any age and loved watching the group interact with each other. We really had a great time roaming around Downtown Columbia. I hope Sam loves the photos as much as I do.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
It was so great to see my old friend Mona and her beautiful family at their outdoor family portrait session at the Park at Harlinsdale Farms in Franklin.
I wanted to let you know that this session started out a little rough for the kiddos, both of whom had fallen asleep on their drive to the photo session after a busy, fun-filled holiday weekend. When they first arrived, they were groggy and apprehensive about being there and having their photos taken.
The only reason I point this out is that I want you to notice that you can’t tell from the photos. Within about 10 minutes of when we started the portrait session, they both warmed up to me and we had tons of fun. I wanted to point that out because it can be something that stresses parents out, but always turns out fine. We had so much fun running and playing and enjoying the beautiful day.
I would love it if you could follow me on Instagram. That’s a great place to keep up to date on future openings. Also, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.
On Tuesday, I shot a Senior Portrait Session at the Park at Harlinsdale Farms in Franklin. It was an absolutely perfect fall day. The autumn color was in full glory and all the trees were spectacular. On Sunday, I returned for a family photo session and almost all the leaves were gone.
I did, however, find this one perfect tree that had not lost it’s leave and was a gorgeous red orange color.
There were droves of photographers at the park that afternoon. It is one of the busiest portrait weekends of the year. I arrived early, as I always do, to stake out the location and look around at the light. These two sessions are a perfect example of why I do that. Even though I know this location well, and had been there just a few days before, it looked completely different.
When I found my tree, the light was coming through it in just the right way. I’m obsessed with light and this is one of my favorite kinds. I don’t normally shoot in that direction because there is an ugly parking lot behind the tree. But I figured it was far enough away to not be much of a problem. I knew I wanted to start the family photos at the tree because the light could move and not be at just the right spot if I waited. So I stopped roaming and just stood and staked out my spot like a dog hoping it didn’t get overrun with other photographers before my session started.
The funny thing is, I never saw another photographer go near the tree. It just goes to show that you can have 100 photographers photograph a subject, and everyone of them will see it differently and execute a different vision.
And isn’t this just the most beautiful family? Gah, those giggles are the best.
I would love it if you could follow me on Instagram. That’s a great place to keep up to date on future openings. Also, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.
I wrote an entire blog post just a few days ago, and I think that is my limit for this very busy week. So for this beautiful family portrait session in Spring Hill, I think I will let the photos speak for themselves. These sweet boys are getting so big. Happy fifth birthday, Ty!
Are you following me on Instagram? That’s a great place to keep up to date on future openings. I have a couple spots left for my Holiday Family Mini Sessions. Or are you looking for a senior photographer? Either way, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.
One of the biggest lessons I learned early on when I became a professional photographer, was that I am not the right photographer for everyone. It’s my job to try to make sure that the right clients can find me, while those who are not a good fit for me, recognize that and find a photographer who is a better fit. So when I show up at a lifestyle family portrait session and feel like the clients are exactly right for me, I get really excited.
There are lots of things that go into a photographer’s style. But what I want to talk about today is what it really means to be a lifestyle photographer. “Lifestyle” has become a buzzword in photography world, but I’m not sure a lot of people truly understand what it means. And that meaning can vary a bit between photographers. To let you know how I see lifestyle photography, let’s first talk about what it is not.
What most of us grew up with was traditional portrait photography. This was typically done in a studio (raise your hand if you went to Sears!!) with studio lighting and a photographer who told you exactly where to stand, where to put your hands, how to hold your chin just so, etc. That is a perfectly lovely form of photography when done by a true artist (like, not Portrait Innovations). But it’s not me. My goal is that no one shows up at a portrait session with me expecting traditional portrait photography. Because if they do, then they will likely spend most of the session staring at my camera with a forced, fake smile waiting on me to tell them how to stand.
At the other end of the spectrum is Documentary photography. I think documentary photographers are super cool, and I do dabble in that occasionally, but that’s not what most of my family sessions are either. When shooting, a documentary photographer would not become part of the story at all. They would simply document what happens naturally, without controlling or guiding the story at all. My birth sessions are this way mostly. I’m like a fly on the wall, capturing events as they unfold.
But as a lifestyle photographer, my approach is between these two extremes. As a lifestyle photographer, I want to capture real life interactions between your family, but I’d prefer those interactions to happen in pretty light, and I’d like to get a variety of interactions to happen in a one hour span of time, so I offer some guidance. Instead of “hold your head like this”, I’m more apt to tell you to “snuggle up” or “have a tickle fight”. I’m looking for things that capture your family as they are, and this might mean different things for different families. You may catch me noticing an interaction between you, and it’s possible I might ask you to do it again, maybe while standing in the pretty light this time.
Side note, but after all these years, I’m not sure my husband understands the difference between lifestyle and documentary. Whenever I try to get a photo of him and my girls interacting in a certain way, he always complains “but I thought you didn’t like posed photos.” Dude, I’m not posing you, I’m GUIDING YOU. Also, just do what I said.
Anyway, in trying to find the right clients for me, I work hard on educating clients both before they hire me, and before the session so they know what to expect. Some of that comes from written blog posts like this one, or client emails, but I also do it in more subtle ways. If you follow me on Instagram, you may notice that in a great number of the photos I share there, the subjects are not looking at the camera. I always get photos of clients looking at the camera at a session because everyone wants at least a couple of those, but my favorites are almost always ones where the family is involved with each other and not looking at me. So I make a point of sharing what I love to shoot, in an attempt to attract the right clients.
Well, let’s just say I felt like I hit the jackpot with this family. They were so much fun to photograph and immediately took to my guidance and silly requests. There was so much dancing, and snuggling up and giggling and LOVE that it made my job so super easy. I just adore this family portrait session and hope they do too.
Also, the family is fairly new to Spring Hill. Please join me in welcoming them to town!
This is the time in the year when I start giving up on words, keeping blog posts short and sweet, because who has time for writing when there is all this shooting and editing to do? But I do want to say how much I loved hanging out with this adorable family during their family photo session at Country Cove Farms in Murfreesboro. It was so clear how much love there is between them and I felt blessed to be able to capture it in photos.
OK, now back to editing. Happy Fall, yall!
Are you following me on Instagram? That’s a great place to keep up to date on future openings. I have a couple spots left for my Holiday Family Mini Sessions. Or are you looking for a senior photographer? Either way, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.
When Ashley first contacted me about this at-home family portrait session, she said that she had found me just by googling Nashville Family Photographer, and liked the work on my website. But she wanted to know if I could shoot a session at their home. My answer was “absolutely”! I love photographing families in places that mean something to them.
Ashely wanted a daytime session that would work for baby Jack’s schedule. Her back yard was the perfect spot and offered plenty of shade for a morning session. The trees were absolutely gorgeous and I fell in love with Emilia’s tree swing. It looked like something you would find in a fairy garden.
So for a while, I’ve wanted to try adding video to my services, but I don’t have much experience in doing it. For some time, I’d wanted to try to add a few videos to a session, but needed to find the right opportunity. First, I didn’t want to feel like I was in a race with the light, and since this was a daytime session, I felt I had a little more wiggle room on the time, so I could take a little extra time at each spot to get the photos I normally would, and then take a video or two.
Second, I needed it to be a small family with young children. I have done a few bigger families and extended sessions lately and definitely didn’t feel confident adding something extra to those. But with a small family, there is usually more time during a session since there are not lots of combinations of people to include in the shots. I wanted young children because those sessions are just naturally more active and a good fit for capturing movement.
So anyway, I didn’t tell the family I was shooting video because I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or if I would even include it. But I played around with them today and think they turned out OK. I definitely want to practice more and maybe eventually add this on as an additional option for clients.
Are these not the cutest kids ever? The session was so much fun and I love reliving that fun through the videos. Emelia’s laugh is just the most beautiful music.
In case the video moved to quickly for you, here are some of the images in my usual format:
Are you following me on Instagram? That’s a great place to keep up to date on future openings. I have a couple spots left for my Holiday Family Mini Sessions. Or are you looking for a senior photographer? Either way, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.
If you followed my blog for long, you probably recognize my friend Christy and her beautiful family in this family portrait session I shot yesterday. Christy had never had family portraits shot at the Park at Harlansdale Farms, and it was a perfect choice for this fall portrait session. The weather and the light were perfect and the girls had so much fun roaming around the farm. Christy and I have been friends for years, so I’ve known Haley since she was a toddler, and Hannah & Emily since birth. I actually photographed Emily being born. They are some of the easiest children I ever photograph and we always have so much fun.
Since Christy is often my guinea pig for trying new things, I was excited to have her be the first to try out a new service I’m offering to my clients to help them decide what to wear for their family portrait sessions. I don’t know about you, but for me, deciding what to wear is probably the most stressful part of planning a portrait session. I’ve never felt particularly good at it, even as the photographer. I often have an idea in my mind what I want, but actually finding the pieces in all the correct colors and sizes to purchase never seems to be easy. So I wanted to find a way to make that process easier on my portrait clients. I’m happy to announce that every client will now have access to the Style & Select tool. Style & Select is an interactive style guide and outfit coordinator on the web.
When you book a portrait session with me, you will be sent a link to the Style & Select questionnaire and a password to use the service. You will then fill out the survey based upon the needs of your family. The questionnaire will ask you the number of people being photographed, their ages, and your styling preferences along with what color scheme you would like to choose for your portrait session wardrobe.
The quick results page will show you photo-approved clothing pieces for each family member and you can view outfits side-by-side while favoriting items. You can play around with it until you have selected the perfect outfit combo! Click the email button to send yourself the selected items or shop for the clothes right away by clicking the shopping cart buttons. You don’t have to purchase the items recommended. You can also use them as inspiration for shopping at your favorite store, on Amazon, or even in your own closet.
Christy’s thoughts on using the Style & Select Tool
“The Style & Select tool was an easy way to get coordinated outfits in the style and colors I like. I was able to come up with several family outfit selections without spending a ton of time scrolling online or actually shopping! I love that it offered several price points and at stores I frequently use (aka Amazon). I was even able to upload a couple of dresses we already had to make sure it all coordinated. I just love how everything came together. It was so easy to use and fun too!”
And I am just thrilled with the results. Emmy’s dress, recommended by Style & Select, is one of my favorites. They look so gorgeous and coordinated without being too matchy. I’m very pleased with the first session to use the service and hope that all my clients find it to be a helpful tool to make planning portrait sessions less stressful.
If you haven’t booked Fall Family portraits yet for your family, I still have a few spots left, so book yours today! I also have two spots left for Holiday Mini Sessions at Country Cove Farm on October 11. The Mini Sessions are great for small families, older kids or kids who are used to working with me. If you have a large group or think it may take some time for the kids to warm up to me, you may want to book a full session.
Here goes my annual plug in favor of sending holiday cards in the mail. In almost every other way, I tend to choose the greener, more efficient way of doing things. I loathe writing checks, and much prefer Venmo. I decide to do most things online rather than paper versions. I’m content reading an e-book.
But there is just something about receiving an old fashioned paper Christmas card in the mail. I particularly love the ones with family photos (I know…shocker.) I tape each one to our front door and admire them until well after the New Year.
But I know many of my friends and clients are overwhelmed about getting a Christmas card made and sent out, so I thought I’d offer a few tips to help you with this holiday task.
STEP 1: Getting the Photos
The most obvious choice for getting photos for your annual holiday card is to use the images from your yearly family portrait session.
You can also use photos you’ve taken throughout the year. Last year, my family went on a vacation to Toronto and Niagara Falls for Thanksgiving week. I used photos I took from that vacation (including some phone selfies!) for our holiday card, and everyone seemed to really enjoy them. So don’t think your holiday card has to be all fancy or posed. I haven’t decided this year whether to use vacation photos or the more formal ones I just took a few weeks ago of our family for this year’s Christmas card.
One of my best friends recently set up her phone to take a selfie photo of her family (including their sweet dog) in front of their fireplace. They propped up the phone on a shelf and then used a smartwatch to trigger the photo, but a timer would work fine too. She had the stockings all hung, and it looks super festive and cute. This is an excellent option if you didn’t have family photos made this year, or, if like her, you had spring photos made and want something more festive looking for your holiday card.
Another great option is to come to see Santa Claus and me at the Spring Station Middle School Holiday Market on December 7. Your $25 pre-order ticket includes admission to the Spring Station Holiday Market event for two adults and your children & digital photo downloads of your Santa visit that you can use for your holiday card! Book your spot now before they sell out.
STEP 2: Printing the Photo Cards
If you had pictures made with me this year, you could design and purchase a holiday card straight from your session photo gallery. There are lots of high-quality options, and they print and ship super fast.
If you are using your own photo, I recommend Mpix.com for all your printing needs, including Christmas & Holiday cards. They are having a 50% off sale on Christmas cards that ends today if you are ready to get it done.
And of course, there are plenty of other printing options, such as Shutterfly. I have found the print quality of cards from Shutterfly to be mixed, but with their sales and coupon codes, they are definitely a good choice if you are looking to save a few bucks.
I’m just going to remind you now that if you print professional photos at Walgreens, then a unicorn will die.
STEP 3: Mailing the Photos
I know some people insist that Christmas cards should be hand addressed and signed. I’m not one of those people. My list is huge, and in this case, I’m an advocate that done is better than perfect. So I make it easy on myself.
I either have the place I’m ordering cards from print my return address on the envelopes, or I use return address labels (this year, I got some on sale from Shutterfly).
I keep a document on my computer of addresses, formatted to print onto adhesive Avery address labels. Each year, I review the list to see if it requires changes and then print the labels to address my cards. If any cards are returned to me, I make sure to figure out why, and then edit the list accordingly for next year’s cards.
I’ve seen some people on Facebook using google forms to collect addresses of people who want to receive a card from them. That’s a great place to start if you are beginning from scratch, but be sure to save the addresses in printable form to use again next year to make it super easy for you.
Bonus tip: This year, I ordered discount Forever stamps from Ebay to save a few bucks on shipping the cards, which is good since I send out so many.
That’s it, then sit back and enjoy the rest of the holidays knowing you did your part in spreading cheer.
Gorgeous family photo session with some of my favorite people
Speaking of festive holiday cheer, check out these photos of one of my absolute favorite clients. I adore their clothing choices for this session – perfect for a holiday card, but not so Christmasy that they won’t look great hanging on their walls year-round. These kids keep me on my toes, but I adore them and always end up loving the photos of them. They are so full of life and personality, and everything I love about photographing young children.
This gorgeous family traveled from my hometown, Elizabethton TN, for their family portrait session, and I am so glad they did! Whitney is the best friend of my amazing sister-in-law, which kind of makes her like extended family. You might recognize sweet Zoe from photos I’ve taken at my niece’s birthday parties and other such events.
But this is the first time I’ve been able to do an actual family portrait session for them. They combined our session with a weekend family getaway to the Opryland hotel, which I thought was a fantastic idea. They were able to visit the ICE! at Gaylord Opryland and all the holiday fun at the hotel. Then, before returning to East Tennessee, they met me at Winstead Hill Park in Franklin for a fun fall family portrait session.
The weather was gorgeous, which was my one fear… I wasn’t sure how we would reschedule if the weather didn’t cooperate, considering the 5 1/2 hours they traveled to get here. But we couldn’t have asked for a better day, and they were so much fun to photograph. Zoe is a natural in front of the camera and so much fun to be around. As a side-note, I love the rose pink color of your outfit and think it worked perfectly for fall photos.
I can’t believe I took these photos just three days ago. It feels like a whole different season ago, which really it was. Sunday was the absolute perfect Fall Day, and my favorite day of the year for fall family portrait sessions.
I’m so glad that Lauren was able to book the session. I met this wonderful family at an in-home portrait session in May, and was so happy to have them book another session. Babies grow so fast during their first year. I love capturing all of the stages as they grow and change, but if I had to pick, I would say that I love photographing older babies the best.
Lauren had contacted me before the session to ask if I thought an outdoor session would be appropriate for a 10 month old. I said that it absolutely would be! Even babies who are too young to walk tend to be fascinated by the beautiful world around them, and I love capturing that fascination and wonder.
Isn’t she just the most adorable little girl? I am in love with the purple color mom chose for her dress. It contrast perfectly with the gorgeous yellow leaves.
Too bad those leaves are probably gone now. Fall is absolutely my favorite season, but I’m happy to photograph beautiful snowy portraits too, so we will see what the winter holds. Fingers crossed that we get at least one good snow.
As I sit here on the super cold morning, I miss the perfect Fall day we had just two days ago. I wanted to take the chance to talk about when to book a family portrait session if including fall colors on the trees is important to you. I wrote about this last year, and none of that information has changed, but if bears repeating. I still have many clients who assume October is the best choice for Fall color.
First of all, I want to say that any time of year is perfect for a family portrait session. The important thing is to get them done, and to do it regularly, preferably at least once a year as our littles ones grow so fast and are constantly changing. Beautiful memories can be captured any time of year. I’m now booking January photo sessions, and those can be absolutely beautiful (you just need to dress warmly!)
With that being said, lots of my clients really want that gorgeous fall color, and ask me when they should schedule family portrait sessions to get that color. I always hesitate to answer because mother nature is unpredictable and I cannot promise you we will get beautiful fall color at all. Sometimes, an early freeze or drought conditions or other things can put a damper on that beautiful autumn color.
But I can tell you, after some experience and actual forecasts, when to schedule your session to get the best chance of gorgeous color, and that is the first or second weekend of November (the last weekend in October is a good second choice). That’s when our fall colors peak here in Middle Tennessee. I find a lot of clients who assume it happens a lot earlier than that, and that’s probably because it does up north. Our friends in Michigan saw their autumn peak several weeks ago (and now they are getting snow!).
I said all of that same information last year, and here, as further proof, is one of my sessions from Sunday, November 10. I adore this family and loved getting to hang out with them again. I’m thrilled they were able to book this session and indeed did get gorgeous fall color.
